Sen. Amy Klobuchar raises nearly $3.9 million, keeping her competitive

WASHINGTON – Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised nearly $3.9 million for her presidential bid over the past three months, lagging far behind the leaders in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination, but tallying enough cash to keep her on the campaign trail.

Klobuchar also announced that her campaign now has more than 100,000 "unique donors," closing in on the 130,000 needed to qualify for the third Democratic debate in September. She has surpassed the 2% polling requirement in three of the four national or early state polls needed to get on the debate stage after this month, but has shown weakness in one recent South Carolina poll.

She also landed 7th in new New Hampshire primary poll, at 2.7%, good enough to edge out back-of-the-pack rivals Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Beto O'Rourke.

She faces an August 28 deadline to meet both the fundraising and polling criteria for the Sept. 12-13 debate in Houston, which follows a debate at the end of July for which she has already qualified.

Facing a midnight reporting deadline, Klobuchar waited until after business hours Monday to release her latest Federal Election Commission report, typically a tactic to minimize media coverage of anemic fundraising figures. All but a handful of the other campaigns had disclosed their numbers earlier.

In an interview Sunday on ABC News, Klobuchar declined to talk in specifics about her second quarter totals, which cover the three-month period that ended June 30.

"I can just tell you that I am going to have enough money to win," Klobuchar said in the interview. "I — we had a good first quarter and we've continued to be smart about how we're spending our money."

In a statement, campaign manager Justin Buoen cited "a surge in support" Klobuchar's performance in the first Democratic debate on June 26.

Klobuchar's $3.87 million in fundraising, however, appears to have slowed after the first fundraising quarter than ended March 31, when she reported raising $5.2 million since the start of her campaign for president on Feb. 10 in Minneapolis.

She transferred another $3.6 million from her existing U.S. Senate campaign account. At the end of March, she had just short of $7 million on hand for her presidential bid. Her current cash-on-hand total stands at $6.7 million.

Fundraising by Klobuchar and many of her rivals has lagged behind the five Democratic candidates who have emerged as the contest's leaders. Mayor Pete Buttigieg posted the highest second-quarter tally with $24.8 million raised. Former Vice President Joe Biden raised $21.5 million in that same period. Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised $19.1 million, Sen. Bernie Sanders raised $18 million and Sen. Kamala Harris raised $12 million.

Those five candidates have also lead in recent polling. Klobuchar, who has generally registered 1 to 2 percent in national and early-state polls, is one of several candidates who comprise something of a second tier. That group includes Booker and O'Rourke.

The total amount raised is vitally important to building and sustaining a presidential campaign organization. Another important measure is the number of individual donors needed to keep candidates in the debates.

On Monday Klobuchar reported that her average contribution was $47.49, and that about 85% of contributions came from grassroots donors giving less than $100. Her campaign is averaging more than 1,000 unique donors a day, including one weekend where she added 4,000 new donors. She will need to maintain that rate to comfortably qualify for the all-important debate in September.